Side Story:
Telestia: Love at First Sight
Telestia
“SILK, I HAD A LOT OF FUN THIS TIME TOO.”
Silk, who was sitting in front of me in the rocking carriage, smiled.
Due to the circumstances of my birth, I had spent all my life cooped up in the palace. As the third princess, my position prevented me from even heading to the market to go shopping.
Whatever tasks I needed to complete could be done within the palace, and the only sights I had of the city were from the palace’s window.
I was the same age as the second daughter of Lord Eric, Silk. Since the age of three, we often played together within the palace. Silk’s family lived in Maalbeek, which was a several-day journey away from the capital. When she wasn’t around to play with, I was by myself in the palace, lonely.
On my tenth birthday, I requested permission from my father to visit Silk’s home in Maalbeek, to which he agreed. I wasn’t allowed to go alone, of course. I was accompanied by my handmaiden as well as several Members of the Royal Guard. Still, I was finally allowed to leave the palace. I wanted to jump up and down in excitement.
Simply viewing the city from the window of the carriage was exciting for me. Once we left the city, I was moved by the brightly shining fields of farmland surrounding the road. I asked my handmaiden question after question about everything I was seeing now for the first time. I was traveling alongside Silk, and since we always had something to talk about, the several-day journey wasn’t tedious in the slightest. It was a period of pure bliss to me.
The several days I spent in Maalbeek became treasured memories of mine. Although my guards always had to accompany us, I was able to walk the streets of the city alongside Silk, and we visited the various stores and boutiques. I felt a little sad once the time came for us to leave, but Silk would be coming with me back to the capital for this year’s capital debut party. I was happy to have someone to chat with on the journey back. It was another fun memory.
Once we were within a three-day ride of the capital, there was suddenly commotion from outside our carriage.
“A horde of orcs are closing in! They’re flanking us! Protect the princess!”
I could hear screams from outside of the carriage.
The handmaiden riding with us, Marta, immediately turned to us. She was afraid but composed. “Princess Telestia! Miss Silk! Please conceal yourselves!”
“Huh? D-did something happen?” I asked, surprised at the urgency in Marta’s voice.
“It appears monsters have attacked us. The knights will fend them off, so there’s no need to be concerned. Please conceal yourselves.”
Her words granted me some relief, but I was still scared. Silk and I held hands as we both trembled within the carriage.
The sound of shouting and a large number of footsteps could be heard from inside the carriage. Then, I saw it. From the edge of the window, I saw a horde of orcs beaming straight at us. Frightened, Silk, who was next to me, was also staring at the edge of the window.
“Don’t let them get close to the carriage! Position yourselves around the carriage!”
“More than ten orcs are coming from each of three directions! There are also Variants among them! With our current numbers…”
“Fight with your life! We’re The Royal Guard! We have to protect the princess!”
We could hear the sound of the knights fighting outside the carriage.
“Gyah!”
“Terot! Are you okay?”
“…”
I heard the captain swing his sword and the wet thud of his blade finding purchase. It sounded like he ran over to check on the fallen knight.
“Gah!”
I heard the sound of another knight falling. I looked at the surroundings from the window, and saw several knights had already passed. Others were on the ground, struggling to survive. There were only three of them left defending the carriage.
✦ ✦ ✦
Captain of the Guard
WE MANAGED TO REDUCE THE ROUGHLY FIFTY orcs down to about thirty, but we were at our limit. Among the horde of orcs were Variants believed to be orc generals. They were holding weapons and they simply watched from behind as the other orcs assaulted us.
Including me, there were only three of us still standing to defend the carriage. I had begun to give up and started wondering how much longer I could last. The face of my wife, who was waiting for me at home, rose unbidden in my mind as I continued to swing my sword.
“Is this as far as I go…? Dammit!”
At that moment, a small child with a one-handed sword appeared out of nowhere.
“I’m here to help!” he shouted, then charged right in the middle of all of the orcs. It was certain death.
“Kid, don’t come any closer! Run away, now!” I shouted. As the captain of the guards, the best I could do was create an opportunity for the child to escape.
The child smiled at me and said, “Just watch! Everything will be okay.”
I did watch him and was completely enchanted. He defeated orcs one after another by rapid-firing magical spells and moving his sword faster than I could keep up with.
“Who in the world is that child?!” That was the only thing those still around could say. The knights kept their swords raised to defend the carriage, but all they could do was watch as the young boy’s sword slew one orc after another.
“Let’s end this.”
The young boy unleashed one final slash, and before I realized what had happened, the orcs had all been annihilated. Even the Variants, the orc generals, were powerless before the young boy.
The boy walked towards us. On closer inspection, he was wearing noble garb. However, given his prowess in magic and swordsmanship, he was clearly no ordinary child. He was not a foe we could defeat. However, it was our duty to protect the princess and the duke’s daughter. We raised our swords at the young boy.
“Stay away from the carriage! Stop where you are!”
The young boy cleaned the blood on his sword then put it back in its sheathe. He then fixed his posture and introduced himself.
“Sorry, I should have introduced myself. I’m Cain von Silford. I’m the third son of Margrave Garm von Silford Gracia.”
After that, several knights on horseback arrived from behind the young boy.
“We are knights under the service of the Margrave of Gracia, we are here to—wait, why are you here, Master Cain?”
The knights seemed surprised to find the young boy here as they began to look around at the surroundings.
“They’ve all already been defeated…”
The boy named Cain, who was supposedly the son of the Margrave of Silford, approached us.
“Allow me to heal the injured knights. I can use healing magic,” Cain said.
That brought me to my senses. I looked around. Several knights had already passed, but there were also a few who were still breathing. The young boy named Cain approached the fallen knights and chanted a spell.
“Area High Heal.”
The injuries on the knights were visibly healing. I had injured my arm during the battle, and those wounds vanished as well. Area High Heal was an Advanced-level healing spell. He didn’t even need an incantation while casting it. Just who was this young boy?
Shortly afterwards, a carriage protected by several knights approached. The seal on the carriage was, without a doubt, that of Margrave Silford. The knights that had come to our assistance immediately lined up. Then, a familiar margrave alighted from the carriage.
“Garm von Silford Gracia. The seal on this carriage belongs to the family of Duke Santana. Is everyone all right?”
It was at that moment that I finally realized that the danger had passed. We had survived. I called out to the passengers within the carriage.
“Your Highness, Miss Silk, are you all right? Help arrived, and we defeated the monsters. You can rest easy, now.”
I let out a sigh of relief. We had successfully protected them.